Stargazing
by Lavenderangel
Summary: Set during early season four, but sometime after Ross and Rachel have stopped fighting. R&R share a moment under the stars.


Stargazing  
  
Ross Geller sighed as he gazed unseeingly around his sister's balcony. The rain, which fell around, was lost to his ears, and he barely felt it as it pounded down relentlessly against his body and hair.  
  
"Ross," Monica's voice reached his ears, "if you're planning on coming back in here any time soon, please wipe your feet on the mat. I just moped."  
  
Ross nodded, though he hadn't really heard a word his sister had said. He stared up at the cloudy night sky, feeling depressed.  
  
No matter what he did, he couldn't get Rachel Green off his mind. Sighing, he tried with out much success to think about something, anything but Rachel.  
  
He tried to think about his son, Ben. But thinking about Ben made him think of Carol, his ex-wife, which made him think about the fact that it'd taken him nearly a year to get over her. And when he had, it'd been with Julie, but only for a little. Rachel had been the one to help him forget about Carol. Rachel showed him a whole meaning to the word love.  
  
He sighed, and mentally kicked himself. There he went again, making himself all depressed over something that could never be again. He'd gone and screwed up everything.  
  
"Yo Ross!" Joey took his turn to stick his head out the sliding door. "The nicks are playing on channel four! You should come and… oh, gotta go!"  
  
With a distant sounding yell from Chandler, Joey disappeared again. Ross sighed as he watched his friend go, and then returned to looking out at the wet city bellow him.  
  
He shivered with out noticing or caring, and returned to the sky. The clouds parted slightly, giving way to the stars, which had been hidden behind them.  
  
Ross gazed spellbound at them, as though they were the most beautiful things in the world. And they were, Ross thought with a small smile to himself. They were the prettiest things he'd ever seen; except for Rachel's eyes of course, he amended quickly.  
  
He sighed again, thinking back to a time not so long ago, but felt like decades ago to Ross.  
  
-  
  
Ross breathed in the cool night air, and smiled as he slipped quietly out onto the balcony.  
  
Dropping the blanket that he'd been carrying with him soundlessly to the ground, he joined it seconds later. Lying flat on his back, he looked up at the brightly-lit night sky.  
  
As he stared at the stars above him, they seemed to have a hypnotic effect on him. When he watched the stars, he forgot about the world around him. He forgot about all his other problems, he forgot about everything.  
  
He never knew how long he had been out there, and he never heard the sliding door open as someone else came out onto the small expanse of land that extended from the apartment building.  
  
Rachel, clad in pajamas like her zoned out boyfriend, looked around the small balcony with a smile.  
  
"Hey you," she said to Ross as she sat down beside him. He made no sign that he knew of her presence, and Rachel smiled again to herself.  
  
She bent down, and gently brushed Ross's cheek with her soft finger tips. When surprisingly still no sound came from him, Rachel used her secret weapon.  
  
For a minute, Ross didn't know what was going on around him. One second he had been watching the stars, and the next he was being passionately kissed. He instantly kissed back; already knowing whom it was that he was kissing.  
  
Sure enough, when he opened his eyes a moment later after the kiss was finished, he was staring into Rachel's soft brown eyes.  
  
"Hi," he said with a grin.  
  
"Well, it's about time!" She lay down beside him, and then a moment later, their arms were around each other in a gentle embrace.  
  
"Sorry." Ross mumbled into her hair, shivering as the girl in his arms ran her hands through his own.  
  
"That's okay," she said, as they started another kiss.  
  
A few moments later they drew apart, flushed but smiling broadly.  
  
"So why'd you come out here, anyway?" She asked as she broke their embrace so she could lie on her back.  
  
"I like watching the stars." He told her, moving into the same position and taking her hand in his. "It helps me relax."  
  
Rachel said nothing in reply to this, just followed Ross's lead in looking happily at the sky.  
  
About a half an hour and quite a few kisses later, the happy couple fell asleep. Ross had an arm around Rachel's shoulders protectively, and she was snuggled up against his chest. They both had smiles on their faces, as they slept peacefully under the star filled sky, laying contentedly in their love's embrace.  
  
-  
  
A genuine smile crossed Ross's lips, as he reminisced about some of the happier points of he and Rachel's relationship.  
  
The wind whistled loudly around him, making him shiver more violently this time. He turned away from where he'd been leaning against the railing and prepared to go back inside.  
  
Wiping his feet the best he could, he sighed with pleasure as he stepped into the warmth of Monica and Rachel's apartment.  
  
His expression of happiness faded quickly as he looked worriedly around him, checking to see if his sister was anywhere in site.  
  
"Mon?" He called out to the silent apartment.  
  
Rachel's bedroom door opened a crack, and music greeted Ross's ears. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought that sounded a lot like u2. Shrugging, he concentrated on Rachel's face, as beautiful as ever, looking out at the apartment, and Ross.  
  
"You're safe," she reassured him with a laugh. "She's out on a date."  
  
Ross sighed loudly in relief and sunk down on the couch. Rachel disappeared into her room once again. Ross thought she was going to stay there, but to his surprise she came out again a moment later, and then joined him on the couch.  
  
"So," Ross started lamely.  
  
"Yeah…" Rachel seemed to have as much to say as Ross did.  
  
"How ya been lately?" Ross felt like an idiot for asking this, but said it anyway.  
  
"Okay… you?"  
  
"Pretty good."  
  
The silence that followed Ross's statement was quieter then before. They both listened intently.  
  
"Hey, it's stopped raining!" Rachel exclaimed as she stood up excitedly.  
  
"Yeah!" Ross said lamely, rising as well.  
  
Suddenly, a crazy idea came to him, and he'd asked it before he could stop himself. "Hey… do you wanna go out and watch the stars with me?"  
  
As soon as he'd asked it he regretted it. His cheeks turned a deep shade of red, and he couldn't look at Rachel.  
  
"…Okay," to Ross's surprise Rachel agreed.  
  
They walked outside a minute later, the same blanket from that night months ago in Ross's arms.  
  
The ground was wet, but the two didn't care. Ross put the blanket down, and he and Rachel lay down and looked around them.  
  
Do to the small size of the blanket, Ross and Rachel were forced to lie very close to each other. If either moved so much as an inch, their bodies touched in some way. Ross had to stop himself more then once from reaching out and taking Rachel's soft hand in his, and contended himself with feeling her breath on his face.  
  
"Look there, it's the Big Dipper!" Rachel cried after a while of silence.  
  
Ross smiled and nodded, watching her face as she smiled and pointed excitedly.  
  
The night air was cool, and neither had brought a jacket with them. They shivered at the same time, and it was obvious that the other had noticed.  
  
"Cold?" Ross asked nervously, reaching tentatively out and putting his arm around Rachel's shoulders.  
  
She let out an inaudible sigh, and out of habit snuggled closer to Ross.  
  
He showed no signs of complaint, and tightened his hold around her.  
  
Like with the other night they'd spent together under the canopy of stars, they soon fell asleep, forgetting for a time that they were apart, and that the other supposedly didn't love them.  
  
For the few hours they spent together, everything seemed like it was going to be all right again, and for the first time since their breakup, both slept soundly beside the other.  
  
[A/N  
I wanted to write some fluff, and sorry that it was out of character. That aside, I hoped you enjoyed it!] 


End file.
